LIFE is strange, particularly in the theatre. You wait years for a chocolate soldier … and then two come along in the same week.

First we had the original, George Bernard Shaw’s Arms and the Man at the Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis (see separate review) – and a few days later there was The Chocolate Soldier, Oscar Straus’s operetta, rounding off a successful 30th anniversary Iford festival season with If Opera at Church Farm, Wingfield.

Both versions are very funny. And both productions were a delight.

For reasons that with hindsight seem rather ill-judged, Shaw wouldn’t allow Straus to use his play, so the Viennese composer’s libretto is slightly different, although it tells essentially the same story. But it turned out that the operetta was more successful than the play, so Shaw would have gained more royalties if he had let his words be used.

Inasmuchas it has a serious background, The Chocolate Soldier is a farcical look at the constant wars in the Balkans that eventually led to the First World War. The Petkoff family are rich and powerful – father Kasimir is a senior officer in the army of Bulgaria, which is at war with Serbia. The Serbians have Austrian mercenaries – and significantly, one Swiss officer. The Bulgarian officers, with their ridiculously over-frogged uniforms and self-importance, largely rely on Russians for the actual messy business of fighting.

The story is a satire on the foolishness and bravado that pretends war is glamorous, and, with a nod to the incipient changes in a male-dominated society, the reality of a high-spirited and independent young woman who instinctively rebels against the cosy class-ridden marriage market of her time.

The “chocolate soldier” – Lieutenant Bluntschli, a Swiss mercenary with the Serbian forces – is a professional soldier, for whom spare chocolates in his pockets are more desirable than bullets. While fleeing from Russian soldiers intent on killing him, he seeks refuge in Raina’s bedroom, and the young woman hides him rather than raising the alarm. In due course both her mother Catherine and their house-keeper Louka get involved. And a lot of very funny things happen as a result.

In this new adaptation by Jeff Clarke for his Opera Della Luna company, the dialogue is crisp and witty, and the Viennese music, with its gorgeous tuneful songs and arias, carries the story through to its (inevitable) romantic conclusion.

Jeff Clarke and his company are old favourites with the Iford and If Opera audiences, and this production was a triumph, cheered to the apex of the Saddlespan Auditorium marquee, with the sides open for welcome breezes on the evening of the hottest day of the year.

The cast of eight played their characters with real panache. Eleanor Sanderson-Nash was a spirited and excitable Raina Petkoff, torn between duty (and an awareness that her intended, Sergius, is a pompous ass) and the undoubtedly strong attraction she feels for the unexpected refugee in her bedroom.

Robin Bailey was simply wonderful as the awful Sergius – a preening hunk of muscular machismo in his spotless frogged tunic and perfect white trousers. He has a glorious voice as well.

Felicity Buckland as the feisty Louka and Kristin Finnigan as Raina’s flirtatious mother Catherine were delightful, showing great comic timing, particularly in the trios with Raina, as the facts unravel and Major Petkoff (splendidly pompous Paul Featherstone) and Sergius begin to understand what happened on that fateful night before the end of the war.

Felix Kemp (familiar to Dorset Opera Festival audiences, most recently as Dick Dewey in The Woodlanders) made a suitably military impression as the Russian officer Massakroff.

And Guy Elliott had all the required charisma and energy in the title role. Whether hidden (barely) under a chair cover (as Raina complains about the inadequacy of minimal sets) or racing around the theatre in his comical Edwardian tweed suit, his superb tenor and natural comedic skill won the hearts of all the women in the audience – as well as Rainas!

This year, the 30th anniversary of the original festival at Iford Manor, has been a great success. Oliver Gooch, artistic director of If Opera, said: “It has been a scorcher (and it’s not just the weather!) Both Carmen and The Chocolate Soldier has been received with real enthusiasm; our Family Fiesta celebrated all things Spanish, and our Cowshed gave our audiences a Mediterranean-inspired feast.

“Alongside our Baroque events, community outreach, and our hugely important work in schools, we are looking forward to a blazing culmination of our 2026 Festival with the Syd Lawrence Orchestra this weekend. It has been a truly memorable year in celebration of our 30th year!”

FC

Photographs by Craig Fuller.